A Broth angsty alternate ending
by Arthur Jeremy Pearson
Summary: A possible ending to my other story "A Simple Broth"


"[So, my knowledge of Earth and Zootopia didn't impress anyone at the ZPD, and when I kept insisting I wasn't actually a wolf, they sent me here.]" I looked around. "[Yeah, Shady Oaks here is a fine enough place, for a facility for the mentally challenged. Clean.]"

An elderly Elk towered over me in a neat tweed jacket I hadn't caught his name. Some psychiatrist. He steepled his fingerhooves as he listened to my story, such as it was. Never once did he interrupt, only when I paused did he ask if my story was done.

And now it was.

"[So that's it. Here I am.]" I nodded, looking around the room. It'd take six sessions to get the full tale out, since I still had trouble with some more obscure Zootopian words, and my pronounciation wasn't all that great. I'd been wringing my tail a lot through this, and was wringing it right now. "[The end.]"

The psychiatrist closed his eyes, then casually stood up, a literal giant in comparison to me. "[Thank you for that. Give me a moment.]" He leaned over and pressed a button on his desk phone. "[Did he calll?]"

The mouse receptionist's voice came through in a squeak. "[Yes, sir. He said things went well and his ETA is... half an hour.]"

"[Thank you.]" He turned to me. "[I have some news, Arthur.]"

Something about all this made me worry even more, and I made a sharp yelp as I twisted my tail the wrong way. "[Sorry.]" I put my paws at my side and let go of my tail. "[What news? Who were you waiting for a call from?]"

"[Your old doctor, Thaddeous Proghorn.]"

The blood drained from my face, and I felt my life leave me.

I literally died.

* * *

"Oh." Thaddeous Proghorn took care of the brown wolf during his initial episodes. The elk could see something drastic had happened to the wolf's emotional state when he'd mentioned the name. "I... I've had another episode." The brown wolf said dully, head hung low.

"Yes, 'Arthur Jeremy Pearson.'" The elk paused, and then, "Or should I say Seddrix Blackhund?

The wolf didn't respond right away. "Yeah. Seddrix." Still towering over the little wolf, it seemed Seddrix shrunk even further into himself.

"You understand the standard protocol for patients like yourself, I trust?"

Seddrix nodded. "Yeah." The Elk picked up the phone and called for a pair of security officers. Soon Seddrix was flanked by a pair of burly bulls, who put him in a striaghtjacket and muzzle. Seddrix sighed and did not resist the process.

The elk made some more notes as this was happening, and watched the suicidal wolf slump back down in his chair once the restraints were secured on him. The elk doctor said "You're doing well. I'll let Doctor Proghorn know how cooperative you were while here."

* * *

A dark brown wolf with black eartips regarded the restrained and silent Seddrix. Let's call him Paul Blackhund. "Come on, son. Talk to me." It'd been five minutes, and the restrained wolf hadn't moved once, nor spoke.

He'd waited. And waited. He had sat down and pet the restrained wolf. He looked around, making sure there were no cameras, or listening devices.

Finally, he knelt down.

"Listen, Seddrix. I've been thinking about it, and ... " He took a deep breath. "Seddrix. Arthur. I'm okay with it."

There might have been a twitch.

"I'd... rather have YOU. Call yourself Arthur, if you want. Go ahead and say you're from another world and don't understand our ways." He nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. "At least then you were happy."

Seddrix stirred. He unfolded himself as best he could in his restraints. Tears were in his eyes, too.

"Maybe it's better if you were Arthur, and not Seddrix. Maybe being Arthur for a while longer might... help you remember who Seddrix was. I mean..." He choked on the memory, but pulled it out and said it anyway. "This time, you didn't ... DO anything when you realized you were ... you again. You let them ... make it safe for you." The older wolf struggled to make a smile. "Progress, right?"

Now Seddrix was openly weeping, sobbing with his whole body. He nodded, then arched his back as far as the restraints would let him. "He... Arthur. He wants to be... me... as much ... as I want to be HIM." Seddrix shook his head. "I ... I can't give him that. Not the REAL him, the one writing this story. The one telling me what to say."

Paul shook his head in confusion, but urged, "Go on. Keep going."

"But... but maybe, you're right. Maybe if I'm him some more... we could... I don't know..." Seddrix looked to the ceiling, straining to see past the lines of text that made up his world into the world that created his. "Be a little more ... whole?"

The elder wolf wrapped his arms around his struggling child, and just rocked back and forth with him.

Fin.


End file.
